US Navy considers alternatives to unmanned boats with missiles

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  6 avril 2021 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contracts for April 2, 2021

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  5 mai 2020 | International, Aérospatial, Naval, Terrestre, C4ISR, Sécurité

  Contract Awards by US Department of Defense - May 04, 2020

  DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY Point Blank Enterprises Inc., Pompano Beach, Florida, has been awarded a maximum $81,265,600 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for body armor. This was a competitive acquisition with five offers received. This is an 18-month base contract with two one-year option periods. Location of performance is Florida, with a Nov. 30, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting agency is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE1C1-20-D-1254). Arjo Inc., Addison, Illinois, has been awarded a maximum $47,500,000 fixed-price with economic-price-adjustment, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for medical equipment and accessories for the Defense Logistics Agency electronic catalog. This was a competitive acquisition with 115 responses received. This is a five-year contract with no option periods. Location of performance is Illinois, with a May 3, 2025, performance completion date. Using military services are Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2020 through 2025 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (SPE2DH-20-D-0038). NAVY General Dynamics Electric Boat Corp. (GDEB), Groton, Connecticut, is awarded $60,594,296 for a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide U.S. Trident II Strategic Weapon System (SWS) ship alterations and United Kingdom SWS ship alterations for Strategic Systems Program shipboard integration installations. Work will be performed in Bremerton, Washington (29%); Groton, Connecticut (24%); Kings Bay, Georgia (24%); Bangor, Washington (9%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (7%); Norfolk, Virginia (3%); Washington, D.C. (2%); Faslane, Scotland (1%); and Plymouth, England (1%). Work is expected to be complete by April 2024. The maximum dollar value, including the base period and two option years, is $60,594,296. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $8,511,473; other procurement (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $8,534,755; fiscal 2020 research, development, test and evaluation (Navy) contract funds in the amount of $3,171,978; and United Kingdom funds in the amount of $2,098,018 are being obligated at time of award. Funds in the amount of $8,511,473 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was a sole-source acquisition in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 2304(c)(1) and (4). Strategic Systems Programs, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N-00030-20-C-0028). Virginia Pilot Association, Virginia Beach, Virginia, is awarded an $8,175,544 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to provide support services to assist with the navigation of ships for Commander, Navy Region Mid-Atlantic Port Operations Division. All work will be performed in Norfolk, Virginia, and is expected to be complete by May 2025. This contract will include a 60-month base ordering period with an additional six-month ordering period option pursuant of Federal Acquisition Regulation 52.217-8; an option to extend services, which if exercised, will bring the total value to $9,058,663. The base ordering period is expected to be completed by May 2025; if the option is exercised, the ordering period will be completed by December 2025. Fiscal 2020 operations and maintenance (Navy) funds in the amount of $50,000 will be obligated to fund the contract's minimum amount and funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. One source was solicited for this non-competitive, sole-source requirement in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, and one offer was received. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Norfolk, Contracting Department Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity. ARMY KVG LLC, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (W564KV-20-D-2002); Crowley Government Services Inc., Jacksonville, Florida (W564KV-20-D-2004); Agility International Inc., Alexandria, Virginia (W564KV-20-D-2003); Maersk Line Ltd, Norfolk, Virginia (W564KV-20-D-2005); Aecom Management Services Inc., Germantown, Maryland (W564KV-20-D-2006); and American Roll-on Roll-off Carrier Group, Parsippany, New Jersey (W564KV-20-D-2007), will compete for each order of the $49,010,000 contract for the transportation of equipment, cargo and passengers within the European Command area of operations. Bids were solicited via the internet with 16 received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 9, 2023. The 409th Contracting Support Brigade, Kaiserslautern, Germany, is the contracting activity. The Lighthouse for the Blind, St. Louis, Missouri (W81XWH-19-D-0008); Atlantic Diving Supply Inc.,* Virginia Beach, Virginia (W81XWH-19-D-0007); American Purchasing Services LLC,* Miramar, Florida (W81XWH-19-D-0006); and TQM LLC, St. Charles, Missouri (W81XWH-19-D-0009), will compete for each order of the $45,000,000 contract for sets, kits and outfits to supply complete medical, surgical, pharmaceutical, dental, laboratory and veterinary equipment and material sets. Bids were solicited via the internet with four received. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order, with an estimated completion date of May 4, 2024. U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, Fort Detrick, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Raytheon Co., Dulles, Virginia, was awarded a $27,472,296 hybrid (cost-no-fee, firm-fixed-price) contract to provide technical expertise, system operators, maintenance and life-cycle support for the sustainment, operations and support management of numerous training aids, devices, simulators and simulations. Bids were solicited via the internet with three received. Work will be performed in Kuwait, with an estimated completion date of Dec. 31, 2023. Fiscal 2020 defense overseas contingency transfer funds in the amount of $5,000,000 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Orlando, Florida, is the contracting activity (W900KK-20-C-0031). MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY Davidson Technologies,* Huntsville, Alabama, is being awarded a modification in the amount of $20,696,405 to previously awarded indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract HQ0147-19-D-0004. The contract value is increased from $2,437,491 to $23,133,896. Under this contract the contractor will continue to develop a cyber-secure information technology infrastructure that allows users to access data via a virtual desktop infrastructure. The work will be performed in Huntsville, Alabama. The ordering period of the ID/IQ is May 23, 2019, to May 22, 2024. A second task order award in the amount of $12,200,000 is being issued at this time. Fiscal 2020 research and development funds in the amount of $12,200,000 are being obligated on the task order award. The original award was made under Special Topic Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) number HQ0147-17-S-0002 that was posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website to solicit white papers related to advanced research technology and development in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.102(d)(2)(i) to meet full and open competition requirements. The government received 26 white papers in response to the BAA and selected seven from which proposals were requested. This original award results from one of seven proposals received. The Missile Defense Agency, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, is the contracting activity. *Small business https://www.defense.gov/Newsroom/Contracts/Contract/Article/2175622/source/GovDelivery/

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  4 novembre 2020 | International, Aérospatial

  Defense aerospace primes are raking in money for classified programs

  By: Valerie Insinna WASHINGTON — Two months after disclosing the existence of a next-generation fighter jet demonstrator, the U.S. Air Force is staying mum on which company may have built it. But one thing is for sure: Classified aviation programs are on the rise, and opportunities abound for the three major American defense aerospace primes — Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing. During an Oct. 20 earnings call with investors, Lockheed Martin Chief Financial Officer Ken Possenriede revealed the company's Aeronautics division recently won a classified contract that would necessitate the construction of a new building in Palmdale, California, where the company's Skunk Works development arm tests and creates prototypes of secret aircraft. Sales for the division were up 8 percent in this year's third quarter compared to the same period in 2019, with about $130 million of the $502 million boost attributed to classified work. But Possenriede alluded to even more growth on the horizon. “For Aeronautics, we do anticipate seeing strong, double-digit growth at our Skunk Works, our classified advanced development programs. We continue to execute on those recent awards,” he said, adding that there were a “multitude of opportunities” still out there. Classified work also increased at Northrop Grumman's Aeronautics Systems unit, with “restricted activities” in the autonomous systems and manned aircraft portfolios helping bolster sales by 5 percent for the quarter and 4 percent year-to-date when compared to 2019, Chief Financial Officer Dave Keffer told investors Oct. 22. It's tempting to draw a line from these contract awards to the recent flight of a demonstrator for the Next Generation Air Dominance program — the Air Force's effort to field a suite of air superiority technologies that could include drones, high-tech weapons and what some have termed as a sixth-gen fighter, although service officials have said any warplane in the mix might not resemble a traditional fighter. Even though the Air Force announced in September that at least one NGAD demonstrator exists, it's unclear which companies are involved. Still, there are plenty of other longstanding and emerging Air Force requirements that could be the source of this classified work, said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace analyst for the Teal Group. “It's pretty clear that there's more prototyping activity going on out there than was generally known. I had assumed that most of the work related to NGAD was happening at the systems level. It's clearly happening at the airframe level too," he said. "And then of course there are a lot of potential drone developments that are certainly worth watching,” from the MQ-9 Reaper replacement to strategic reconnaissance requirements, “which is fundamentally a very expensive activity.” The wild card in this situation is Boeing. Because of investors' focus on the commercial side of the business — including plans for the return of the Boeing 737 Max to flight, as well as the continued downward spiral of sales caused by the global pandemic and its chilling effect on air travel — executives did not speak about Boeing Defense, Space and Security's classified activities during the company's Oct. 28 earnings call. “Overall, the defense and space market remains significant and relatively stable, and we continue to see solid global demand for our key programs,” a Boeing spokesman said in response to questions about the company's classified business. “We project a $2.6 trillion market opportunity for defense and space during the next decade, which includes important classified work.” After years of lost competitions, there are signs that the company's combat aircraft production facilities in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as its advanced projects division, Phantom Works, are returning to health. Over the past two years, the company has banked major awards, including the Navy's MQ-25 tanker drone and the T-7A trainer jet, both of which were developed by Phantom Works. Boeing's work on the T-7 received praise from Air Force acquisition executive Will Roper for its use of digital engineering, which involves simulating the design, production and life cycle of a product in order to drive down costs. The company has also started selling the advanced F-15EX fighter jet to the Air Force, breathing a second life into that aircraft with this latest variant. But Aboulafia worried that pressure on Boeing's commercial business — combined with its strategy of leveraging the work of other aircraft makers on projects like the T-7, where Swedish manufacturer Saab had a heavy influence in shaping the design — may have led to a loss of resources and engineering talent at Phantom Works. “Either they're sitting it out now because their focus is elsewhere, or they don't have the capabilities and the commitment that the others do, or we're just not hearing about it now,” he said. Boeing is not the only company investing in digital engineering and advanced manufacturing processes. Northrop CEO Kathy Warden pointed to her company's use of digital engineering in the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent program, which the company won in September to build the Air Force's next-generation intercontinental ballistic missiles. “The work that we have done with the customer already, even under the tech maturation and risk reduction phase of the program, was done in a digital environment,” she said. “We delivered artifacts for review in a fully digital environment where they were actually looking at things in a model, not documents produced. This is the first time on a program of this size where that's been the case.” “Those investments that we're making for GBSD are being utilized across our entire portfolio,” she added. “So as we think about Next Generation Air Dominance and the programs that are part of that overall campaign ... they too will benefit from a full digital engineering thread as being required by our customers.” https://www.defensenews.com/industry/2020/11/03/defense-aerospace-primes-are-raking-in-money-for-classified-programs/